


Paper Bag Lunches

by knightship



Series: Based in Gotham [1]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Class Differences, Friendship, Gen, Gotham Academy, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-15
Updated: 2013-04-15
Packaged: 2017-12-08 14:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/762430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightship/pseuds/knightship
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They shun him naturally because he's a loner, and when they meet the blonde-haired, hard-eyed, scholarship girl, they avoid her like the plague. Because she carries a brown paper bag with her to the cafeteria too, and they know what that means.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paper Bag Lunches

Dick Grayson is the Weird Kid who sits by himself and stares out the window as he eats from his sac lunch.

Everyone knows that he's Wayne's kid, the circus charity or whatever, and he could be using his daddy's money to eat whatever kind of lunch he wants, but every day he always has the same paper bag and always sits in the same spot and never tries to talk to anyone.

They shun him naturally because he's a loner, and when they meet the blonde-haired, hard-eyed, scholarship girl, they avoid her like the plague. Because she carries a brown paper bag with her to the cafeteria too, and they know what that means.

She's subtly rejected at every table, until she comes to the long table by the window with the solitary occupant, who munches slowly on a carrot and stares at her with blue eyes as she sits down.

"Look, there's no where else to sit, and I'm not gonna try and make conversation, shorty. So just let me eat my lunch in peace, and we can go on with our pathetic lives." He slowly raises both brows at her, a wry smirk curling at the edges like the pages of a familiar book. She squints at him suspiciously and dumps the contents of her bag on the table.

She has ham and provolone with tomatoes and Miracle Whip, a pudding cup and a Capri Sun pouch, and tiny bits of celery slathered in peanut butter and dotted with raisins, courtesy of Mom. She sighs angrily and peels the peanut butter off the inside of the sandwich baggie and crunches down on it, pretending it's the head of her new math teacher.

"I'll trade you my graham crackers for your pudding." She looks up, startled. He's offering up his bag full of graham crackers, and after her initial suspicion wears off, she smirks.

"That's a shit trade, dude. Pudding cups always win." He sighs and retreats, though he's smiling. He's kind of cute, actually, in a puny, pre-pubescent sort of way.

He snags one of her ants-on-a-logs when she's not looking, playfully shoving a carrot towards her when she glares. They're circling each other like desperate dogs, looking for a friend but unwilling to quit baring their teeth.

When she gets bored with their silent play-around, she pulls the latest Nicholas Sparks book out of her bag and tucks in to where she left off. The boy lets out a sudden squeak of a laugh, which quickly devolves into a hilarious giggle.

That she totally recognizes.

Before she can shut her book, he whips out his phone and snaps a picture, leaning out of her grasp as he snorts and clicks around on his phone.

"I just sent that to Wally, he's gonna hold that over your head forever, oh man." In retaliation, she pulls out her phone and snaps a picture of his face.

"I'll just hack your phone later," Robin says, smirking. She scowls and tucks her phone and book away.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she hisses. He shrugs.

"It's funny to watch you try and negotiate Gotham Academy's delicate status quo. I almost thought about taking pity on you when you tried to sit with the cheerleaders, you know." He smiles cheerily and takes a bite of her sandwich. She snatches it back and finishes it off, huffing.

"Well, you can at least show me to the rest of my classes," she grumbles when she's done. He smiles, gathering up his trash and crushing it into his paper bag.

"Sure. Ladies first." She gets up, only to realize she has no idea where she's going. He laughs at her, but steers her in the right direction.

Well, at the very least, she muses, she won't have to sit alone at lunch anymore.


End file.
